Brazil: Supreme Court overturns convictions of ex-president Lula da SIlva
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva welcomed by his supporters on his release from prison on November 8, 2019, in Curitiba.
REUTERS / Rodolfo Buhrer
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Monday ordered the overturning of all convictions of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for corruption, making him potentially eligible to face Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election.
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In an unexpected decision that had the effect of a bombshell, Judge Edson Fachin said that a court in the city of Curitiba (south), which had convicted Lula in four trials was "
not competent
" to judge former President Lula for corruption.
His cases will now be tried in a federal court in Brasilia.
Pending these judgments, the former left-wing president, aged 75, is restored to his political rights which could encourage him to embark on the race for the presidency of 2022 in which the current right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro is expected to participate.
Lula was president of Brazil between 2003 and 2011 before being convicted in 2018 for corruption.
He had already served a year and a half in prison for corruption, from April 2018 to November 2019, before being released at the end of 2019 by collegial decision of the Supreme Court but banned from election.
At the time he was imprisoned, the former head of state was given the polls favorite for the October 2018 presidential election.
Two and a half years later, in a recent poll, Lula appears to be the only one capable of defeating President Jair Bolsonaro in the next election, in 2022: 50% of those questioned said they were ready to vote for him, against 44% for the president. current.
Brazil's attorney general has said he will appeal the ruling.
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To read also: Brazil: the former president Lula da Silva lets loose against Jaïr Bolsonaro
(With agencies)
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Brazil
Justice
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva